News
Bloomberg | Geithner Says Higher Income Tax Rates Can’t Be Avoided
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said it will be necessary to raise personal income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to reduce long-term budget deficits, because capping deductions won’t raise enough revenue.
Market Watch | Obama to seek $1.6 tln in new tax revenue: reports
President Barack Obama plans to open talks over the tax component of the so-called "fiscal cliff" by calling for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue over the coming decade, according to reports late Tuesday.
National Journal | Taxes a Hot Topic as Gang of Eight Reunites
The Gang of Eight bipartisan senators who are trying to prevent the country from going over the fiscal cliff reunited this week for the first time since the elections for a series of back-to-back get-togethers, where taxes on the wealthiest Americans emerged as a big focus of discussion.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | All Tax Increases Are Not Created Equal
In a speech immediately following the election, House Speaker John Boehner offered President Obama an olive branch on taxes: Republicans are open to raising more taxes to help close the budget deficit, Boehner said, but it must be through tax reform rather than raising tax rates.
Blogs
Tax Foundation | The Carrot Rebellion
While the fiscal cliff has us all pondering higher tax rates, we should also think about how taxpayers are likely to respond to these higher rates, especially those who didn’t vote for them. Spain provides a cautionary tale, where a “carrot rebellion” is taking hold as a result of the value added tax going from 8 to 21 percent
Heritage Foundation | What Are Economists Really Saying About Tax Rate Increases?
On Friday, Representative Pete Sessions (R–TX) and House Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) ran afoul of Glenn Kessler’s “Fact Checker” blog regarding a study of President Obama’s proposed tax increase. Before deciding on a tax change, policymakers are wise to look at the economic impacts of the change.
Calculated Risk | Fiscal Slope: Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
Fiscal Slope: Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
Tax Foundation | Rules of Thumb for Least Harmful Ways to Raise New Revenues
With the fiscal cliff looming in the near distance, House Speaker John Boehner has signaled a willingness to accept new revenues as a measure of good faith in negotiating a meaningful deal to reducing the federal deficit.
AEI | Is 18% of GDP revenue a realistic number going forward?
Over the past half century, federal government revenue has averaged around 18% of GDP. But is that a realistic marker going forward given the aging of America? Last year a group of AEI scholars put together a long-term budget plan.
Tax Foundation | Texas Margin Tax Repeal Would Improve Lone Star Business Tax Climate
Today, Senator Craig Estes introduced a bill in the Texas legislature to abolish the Texas margin tax, a complicated and cumbersome tax on businesses that we have been critical of since its enactment in 2008.
